What Now...?

Posted on 17 Mar 2021 @ 4:01pm by Commander Kristiana Petrova & Lieutenant JG Aleina Sun

1,265 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Home

So they were back in what these people considered their home universe in barely a blink. This made the second time she had been dropped unceremoniously in someone else's space. The last time, though, the ship she'd been in had been rendered non-functional by the method of transit. This time, thankfully, that had not been the case. Still, that left Aleina with one very pressing question.

What now?

Oh, she knew she would adapt. That was what she'd been taught in her time with Scorpius -- well, it was one of the many things he had taught her. But what would this crew do with her was another question, and one she could not have an answer for without speaking to either the captain or the First Officer. So it was with this knowledge that she went in search of the officer known as Kristiana Petrova.

Kris was in her office, looking over some paperwork. Her uniform was a bit disheveled and her hair had seen better days. Truth be told she looked a bit of a mess. Once she heard someone else approaching she put on her best tired smile though. "Oh, hey. Come in, come in. What can I do for you?"

Aleina had been trained to read people. Granted, Scorpius' reason for that had been that you couldn't manipulate someone if you didn't understand what made them tick, but still it served her in other ways too. Like now, she could tell that the woman before her was exhausted but trying not to seem so. It was in her appearance, and in her eyes. And that smile was definitely not reaching her eyes. Still, she was the second in command here, and Aleina knew well what that meant. She'd been Second on the Command Carrier before the Curtain of White had changed her life forever.

She stepped into the room and stopped on the other side of the desk from Petrova. "If this is a bad time, Commander, I can come back later," she stated in a tone that implied that it was a genuine offer borne of the knowledge of what it took to do Petrova's job.

"It's fine. Just a bunch of paperwork I could do without. Most of it work. Some of it personal," her expression hardened as she said that latter part. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

Aleina noted the shift in the other woman but gave no outward sign as it was not her business. "I was wondering, now that you are returned to your home spaces, what will happen to me?" It was direct, straight to the point, with no frills or superfluous language, just the way Peacekeepers were taught to approach most situations. Also, Aleina felt that, given Petrova's workload, she might appreciate the directness.

Petrova would appreciate directness any day of the week, regardless of what was going on. That was just the Russian mindset in general. "Nothing's gonna happen to you," was her equally direct reply. "You're part of the crew, have a rank, a position, far as we're concerned that means you're one of us and your place is here onboard this ship, long as you want it it's yours," she added, leaning back in her chair and folding her hands together in her lap. "Now if you were thinking of leaving Starfleet there would be all kinds of other concerns but we-the-Federation welcome people who have no other home and give them one. It's kind of our thing, taking in strays. Got a history of it."

On one level, Aleina was relieved. It would have been their right to have her removed now that they were home given that they had acquired her from the Terran Union. So she was grateful that this had not been the plan. As to being a stray, she was not sure she qualified as a 'stray', but she got the point. She did have a home; it was simply that she had no way to get back to it. But should she tell this woman that? From the way Petrova had responded to her directness, she suspected that honesty was the best policy with her, so she nodded.

"I appreciate it. I am not looking to leave at this point, but there is information you should know about me that may or may not have been included in my Union dossier." She did not shift position, not one whit. She could stand at attention for hours if required to. "I did not come from that space either. I crashed on one of their worlds after coming through a Curtain of White, an anomaly that acted as a Doorway or Wormhole might. That closed right after I came through it, and so I couldn't go back that way. I do intend to keep a watch for such a doorway to return to my home spaces one day." Though, in truth, she hoped it was a different form of anomaly given the affect the White had on her Prowler. She didn't want the same thing to happen to their ship. "I do suspect that is a long way off, though."

"At ease," Petrova waved dismissively. "Doesn't matter to us where you come from, really. Long as you do your job and don't embarrass us or cause any interplanetary incidents, you're golden," she tilted her head a bit. "Look, you don't have to worry. We're not gonna try to get rid of you. Right now I don't think we have any way to send you back even if we wanted to," Beat. "Though if you can give me all you know about that Curtain of White I'll see Federation Sciences gets it and they'll let you know if we run across such a thing. That work for you?"

"Thank you, Commander," Aleina responded to the assurance. She then relaxed into a Parade Rest stance, offering a small smile. Honestly, it was more than she had expected. "More than," she admitted. "But sadly, I don't really know much about it. Scorpius is the scientist. What little I gleaned from him told me that its readings resembled those of a wormhole or other doorway. But in appearance, it just looked like a shimmering curtain of white energy. It sprang up right in front of us like it might have been proximity-triggered. The only other thing i know is that it frelled up my Prowler on the way through. When I came out the other side, nothing worked. That was why I crashed."

"That's something I can't help you with either, don't know anything about weird wormholes or portalways, I came up through Security, never had much of a brain for science," Kris admitted. "Maybe you can speak with Lieutenant Sabine, see if she can't help you with that."

Aleina chuckled slightly, but caught it and straightened her expression once more. "Sorry, Commander. It amused me because I tell Scorpius the same thing, that I am no scientist. In fact, when he starts to speak Scientist, I tend to glaze over. So we have common ground, you and I." She wondered briefly if she should have said that but decided to move forward. "I will take your advice though and speak to Lieutenant Sabine. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Kris offered. "Hope that assuages some of your concerns. Will there be anything else, Lieutenant?"

"It does, Commander," Aleina answered. "And no, Ma'am. That was all I needed." She shifted her stance back to attention preparatory to being dismissed.

"Dismissed, Lieutenant," Kris gave a nod before going back to her paperwork.

 

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